Tag Archives: hip hop

08/4/14

Some Positive Suggestions

A post about music wouldn’t be complete without some actual music (but that post was getting too long) so here goes…

Number 18 on My 18 Before 19 was promoting and listening to positive hip hop which includes Christian music. It’s only through the start of a friendship with someone who has admittedly “better” taste than I do (this is the one and only time I’ll admit that) that I’ve realized it’s time to check myself before I wreck myself, figuratively speaking. I’ve really enjoyed some of the “conscious” artists and albums that he’s sent my way, so of course the polite thing to do would be to share a couple.

 

SHAD – WHEN THIS IS OVER. What I like about Shad: his flow appeals to the poetry-loving side of me, which makes “I’ll Never Understand” an easy choice for my favorite track on this album. It’s a spoken-word/rap mash-up collab with his mom on the topic of the Rwandan Genocide. Just as deep as it sounds. The musical aspect of this album stays pretty simple, giving the listener time to focus on the rhymes. Also, this makes for great napping music and I mean that in the best way possible.

 

ANDY MINEO – NEVERLAND, HEROES FOR SALE. I stopped listening to Christian hip hop for a long time because I was so disappointed with the quality of work being produced. Sure, the message is something I obviously believe in but holy hip hop (for me) was sorely missing fine-tuned production and the sound of high-quality producers and emcees heard in secular music. I was guilty of thinking they were all “kumbaya-singing corny Christians” as Andy raps in “Saints“.  I haven’t delved very deeply into Mineo’s discography but I’ve already been given the impression that he is an artist who doesn’t take himself too seriously (listen to the end of “Paisano’s Wylin”). Though he hails from NYC, I think his sound will still win over fans such as myself of heavy-hitting Southern-style beats. See “Uno Uno Seis” for a collab with Christian hip hop’s poster boy, Lecrae.

 

Side note: I am very much in like with Angel Haze. (Warning, NSFW and trigger warning for graphic details of sexual abuse.)

 

08/2/14

We Are Not A Monolith

Music is something that I’ve always found comfort in. I find it the easiest way to swing my emotions and uplift my mood. Almost always am I listening to something; even in the shower or while I’m sleeping. My tastes used to vary more, and I’ll still give most things a listen at least once but I’m pretty much all about the hip hop.

I know the bad rap (pun totally intended 🙂 the genre gets. I hear the criticisms of the vulgarity, ostentatious displays of wealth, misogyny, homophobia and colourism perpetuated by mainstream rap music and hip hop culture. All deserved. But when people dismiss rap as a whole, they dismiss the work of those emcees quietly looking to change the game. And I’m not talking about Macklemore and “Same Love”. There are queer artists, female artists, straight black male artists who are picking up fans while spitting counter culture to the mantra of money, violence, women & drugs. Conscious rap exists and has existed for a while, yet every discussion of “what’s wrong with hip hop” seems to forget that. I think some young fans know about and sometimes choose to ignore any side of rap that isn’t as popular as the Rick Ross-style braggadocio or needless glorification of ganglife. Current reflection upon my musical tastes has revealed a slippery slope towards the likes of French Montana and Waka Flocka. But I think people outside of hip hop legitimately don’t realize that a whole other beautiful side to the culture and genre of music exists.

Music-makers and game-changers A$AP Rocky, Angel Haze and Childish Gambino

That isn’t to say that what’s dominating the airwaves right now has no value. The experiences of disenfranchised, urban, Black American youth is what hip hop was founded on. And some of those disenfranchised youth grew up on a culture of money, violence, women and drugs where hip hop has been and still is a much-needed outlet and reflection of that environment. However, that is no excuse for further oppression of transfolk, women and other minorities. So while I think that everyone’s voice should be heard, positive voices aren’t being heard enough in mainstream media. Black and hip hip hop culture are inextricably tied; it is inevitable then that we see the politically-charged and economically-motivated negative characterization of Black people seep into media portrayal of hip hop – a lucrative industry that refuses to play nice politically. There is nothing inherently wrong with people who happen to fit certain stereotypes of what “Black music” looks like but it is important that differing messages get out there. We, Black people, are not a monolith. Hip hop is not a monolith.